Words to live by?

In the past year, American markets have witnessed unprecedented financial activity. This includes the largest initial public offering in history by SpaceX, the most significant equity raise by Google, a major foreign firm offering by SK Hynix, a private funding round led by OpenAI, and a private debt deal executed by Broadcom. The market also saw the issuance of the biggest bond in history by Amazon.

The first $1 trillion exchange-traded fund, or ETF, was created by Vanguard, marking a record-breaking achievement. Berkshire Hathaway held the record for the largest cash pile, while Nvidia's stock-buyback programme set another milestone. The largest leveraged buyout in history was completed by Electronic Arts, and the largest ever junk-bond offering took place for the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery.

The merging of railways (Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern), utilities (NextEra and Dominion Energy), and media companies has created new markets out of thin air or expanded existing ones. Concerns over corporate scandals and hedge-fund blow-ups, which previously consumed investors' attention for months, have been eclipsed by the American finance machine, which continues to exhibit remarkable flexibility and adaptability.